Pro Baseball Team Enjoying Extra Practice at Night

When the pro baseball team SK Wyverns endured a losing streak at the height of summer in late July, it held a “special training” program at night after a game. Critics blasted SK for overworking players and forcing them to undergo a program that they might be incapable of physically enduring.

What is seen from the outside is often different from what is seen on the inside, however. SK players, who have been “living in hell” since spring training, say they are undergoing the harsh training program voluntarily.

“Sometimes we are exhausted physically but most of us take it positively,” team captain Kim Jae-hyeon said yesterday. “This is because we know that steady exercise brings good results in games.”

The Wyverns’ have paid off, and the numbers prove it. Park Jeong-gwon, who hit just three homeruns last year, has sent 22 balls over the fence this year along with 71 RBIs.

Outfielder Park Jae-sang has hit 15 home runs and recorded 81 RBIs this season, compared with just one home run last year.

Na Joo-hwan, who had hit 10 homers over his six-year career as of last year, has hit 15 this season.

SK’s record 17-game winning streak toward the end of this season is the fruit of the team’s excruciatingly hard work. The record was set despite injuries that kept out ace pitcher Kim Kwang-hyeon and catcher Park Kyeong-wan.

“We might look reckless on the surface. But what we’re doing is a process for complementing our shortcomings,” Park Jae-sang said. “Sometimes, I surprise myself when what I repeatedly practiced in training just comes out in a real game.”

Na said, “Once you get accustomed to it, the training is not that hard. I have to practice even on my days off to get my body to feel as light as a feather.”

SK manager Kim Sung-geun said, “Life is not gambling or a lottery. It is a game in which those who work hard win.”

uni@donga.com